American defense budget for 2013 to include Israel's requested sum for missile defense system aid

Israel News

A US House panel has
unveiled a $608 billion defense spending bill that restores some of the
programs the Pentagon wanted to cut next year and provides nearly $1
billion for Israel's missile defense systems including the Iron Dome and
Magic Wand.

The House Appropriations Committee released the bill on Monday that
includes $519.2 billion for the fiscal 2013 base budget and $88.5
billion for Afghanistan and other counterterrorism activities. That's
$1.1 billion more than the current level and $3.1 billion more than
President Barack Obama requested.n the beginning of
the Month it was reported that Israel asked the United Stated for a sum
of $1 billion to help develop its missile defense systems. Last year,
President Obama approved the allocation of $205 million for the
development of the Iron Dome and Magic Wand programs.
The reinforcement of
Israel's aerial defense systems comes following the latest round of
escalation between Gaza Strip terror groups and Israel, and reports that
Israel requires 10 more batteries, estimated at $50 million each, in
order to provide foolproof protection to its citizens.

Last month it was reported that Jerusalem has requested Washington to allocate some $700 million for

the production of four more Iron Dome batteries and to accelerate the
development of the Magic Wand defense system. In addition, Israel
requested $300 million in order to stockpile a large supply of
intercepting missiles.

In the second half of 2013, Israel is expected to have a total of six Iron Dome batteries, two more than what it currently has.